Archive for the ‘New Kits / Products’ Category

HUV Robotics Bioloid Accessories are back!

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Our good friend Jon Hylands has finally returned to producing his widely popular 3rd party Bioloid add-on & accessory boards, and they are now in stock and ready to ship! We have had a huge demand for these and many people were disappointed when production was stopped, but we and surely many others will be glad to have them back.

The Bioloid USB Bus Board provides a transparent and simple connection to the AX-12+ Bioloid Bus. This board allows your PC to communicate with Bioloid bus devices (AX-12, AX-S1, IMU, etc) using a USB cable (not included) at speeds of up to 1.0 Mbps.

This Bioloid I/O board gives your Bioloid robot the ability to connect to almost any analog (0-5 volt) sensor. It includes 6 analog inputs (10 bit resolution on each). It also includes four general digital I/O pins, and can drive one or two DC motors using either locked anti-phase or sign magnitude PWM.

This Bioloid Foot Pressure Sensor includes one board, four .2″ FSR pressure sensors designed to be attached to the Bioloid foot, and the wiring necessary to connect the sensors to the board.

Pressure sensors on the bottom of your biped’s feet will allow the robot to sense whether or not it is in balance if it is on a smooth flat surface.

Serializer WL Robotics Controller now under $100

Friday, October 9th, 2009

.NET Developers rejoice! The Serializer WL has dropped $30 in price down to $99.95, making this powerful robot controller even more accessible.

Easy Robot Control using .NET or Robotics Studio:

The Serializer WL Robot Controller provides a ready-to-use solution to interface the Microsoft™ .NET framework or Microsoft™ Robotics Studio to common robotic hardware.

Never before has it been this easy to interface DC motors, servos, analog sensors, I2C devices, single and quadrature encoders, switches/relays, and other devices to the .NET framework and/or Robotics Studio.

Be sure to check out our Xbee section for add-ons for this awesome controller!

arbotiX Robocontroller Now Available!

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

We’re officially launching this much anticipated new Robocontroller today! Thanks to all of those who pre-ordered, your board should be on it’s way! Our initial stock of these is limited, so get em while they’re hot!


The arbotiX Robocontroller, an advanced 3rd party Bioloid controller, is now in stock and ready to be sold! It incorporates a powerful AVR microcontroller, XBEE wireless radio, dual motor drivers, and 3-pin servo-style headers for IO.

The arbotiX robocontroller is specifically designed to control robots built using the Bioloid System and AX-12+ servos, although it is also a very high-end solution for powerful rovers. It is not intended to be a drop-in replacement for a CM-5, rather it is intended as a high level development tool for building more sophisticated robots.

For full information and product manual, check the manufacturer’s page.

arbotiX Robocontroller Specifications

  • 16MHz AVR microcontroller (ATMEGA644p).
  • 2 serial ports, 1 dedicated to Bioloid servo controller, the other to the XBEE radio
  • 3 Bioloid AX-12+ style ports onboard, plug your AX-12+ Servos directly in!
  • 32 I/O, 8 of which can function as analog inputs
  • Servo style 3-pin headers (gnd, vcc, signal) on all 8 analog inputs, and 8 of the digital IO

We have also put together the arbotiX Robocontroller Starter Kit that includes everything you need to get started, including a pair of Xbee radios, an Xbee USB Explorer, and a USB AVR Programmer!

arbotiX Robocontroller Now Available for Pre-Order!

Monday, October 5th, 2009

We’re officially launching this much anticipated new Robocontroller tomorrow, but we figured we would give our faithful blog readers a chance at one before we do a main page announcement.

The arbotiX Robocontroller, an advanced 3rd party Bioloid controller, is now in stock and ready to be sold! We still have some additional information to add to the page, as well as a new ISP programmer we picked up… but for those of you wanting to get the ball rolling, check it out and pick one up while supplies last! Our initial stock of these is limited, so get em while they’re hot!

PhidgetSBC – Phidgets Linux Based Single Board Computer

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Phidgets have long been a favorite for computer software developers due to their ease of use, wide selection of sensors and I/O boards, and solid API offering for a variety of programming languages. The one thing that has always been a requirement however, is a physical connection to a computer via USB cable.

All of that is a thing of the past now with the introduction of the PhidgetSBC; an Arm9 based embedded Linux computer (it runs a custom Linux Distro built using Buildroot) combined with the tried and true Phidgets 8/8/8 IO Board.P1070

So what does that mean to you? In its simplest form and function, it effectively cuts the cable of your Phidgets projects and allows you to access your Phidgets devices over ethernet or the included Wifi dongle. The onboard computer acts as a server for the variety of APIs that Phidgets offers, and this enhanced ‘mobility’ opens the doors to a much wider variety of applications. The PhidgetSBC can function as a wireless extension of your PC, a Wifi enabled Robot Controller, or even a standalone Robot Controller. That’s right, the PhidgetSBC is fully programmable; there is an easy to use interface that allows you to load custom C or Java code directly to the board and have it run autonomously, without the previously required PC link. If that wasn’t enough, more advanced users can modify the Linux build to their hearts content, host other USB based Phidgets devices by simply plugging them into the PhidgetSBC, and has integrated support for streaming a web cam feed back to your PC. I’m really just skimming the surface here, for more details check out the (as always) very well documented product manual.

The PhidgetSBC will run you $243.90 USD and we are currently accepting pre-orders for this as we anticipate it to be a very high demand product. Given that the development kits for the onboard computer used here usually run in the ~$150-200 range, this price is a VERY good deal to anyone looking to take their Phidgets projects to the next level. Initial quantities will be limited and orders are filled on a first come first serve basis, so get your pre-order in ASAP to snag one up!

Fun Robot Gear!

Friday, September 25th, 2009

We’ve been asked for awhile to make the ‘I Build Robots!’ T-Shirts (we sport them at Robogames and various tradeshows) available for purchase. Well, we finally got off our lazy butts and made it happen. Our Fun Robot Stuff section is a bit barren right now, but we’ll be filling it with cool robot gear and merchandise in the near future.

Did I mention we have Robot Floor Mats too? Very bright, very retro!  Oh and ‘I Build Robots!’ stickers for good measure.

arbotiX – Advanced Robocontroller for the Bioloid System

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

We’re good friends with the folks over at Vanadium Labs; some very talented people who have been in the robotics game for quite awhile but have just now established their official company. This is great news for the robotics community however, as they have some pretty amazing products on the horizon. One product in particular is the new arbotiX Robocontroller, an advanced Open Source microcontroller tailored for the Bioloid system and AX-12+ servos.
arbotix

The arbotiX robocontroller is an advanced control solution for small-to-medium size robots. It incorporates a powerful AVR microcontroller, XBEE wireless radio, dual motor drivers, and 3-pin servo-style headers for IO.

The arbotiX robocontroller is specifically designed to control robots built using Bioloid servos, although it is also a very high-end solution for powerful rovers. It is not intended to be a drop-in replacement for a CM-5, rather it is intended as a high level development tool for building more sophisticated robots.

So what we have here is an Arduino IDE compatible microcontroller with a plethora of I/O, plug and play capable with AX-12 servos, and an Xbee Wireless Link to your PC. It’s also worth mentioning that this was the controller used in the robot that won Year 1 of Mech Warfare, Issydunyet. For more information on the controller check out the Vanadium Labs website.

Trossen Robotics will be exclusively distributing this exciting and powerful new Robocontroller with an estimated release date of Mid-October 2009. We’ll have more details in the near future, stay tuned!

Want to see the arbotiX in action? Here is a quick video showing a basic Inverse Kinematics demonstration on Issydunyet!

iBotz Beginner Robot Kits!

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

The iBotz line of educational robot kits are an ideal introduction for children ages 8 and up wanting to investigate the fascinating world of electronics and intelligent machines. Developed with the help of the Open University in the United Kingdom, these kits have a strong focus on teaching not only how to build the robot, but how the robot works. Detailed explanations of the circuitry driving the robot are examined, as well as what role the individual components play in the robot’s functionality.

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New Phoenix Demonstration Videos!

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

We’ve been a bit quiet on the blog front as we are getting ready for Robogames 2009 in a little over a week and are furiously working away to finish up projects for demonstration. Our video production crew has been keeping busy also, and just finished up some new demonstration videos for the Phoenix Hexapod, showcasing its numerous features. This Hexapod continues to be one of our most popular sellers, definitely check it out!

Walking Gait Demo

Remote Control Demo

Body Control Demo

All Metal Construction Demo

The Roboard is Back in Stock!

Monday, May 18th, 2009

This has to be one of our hottest selling Robotics controllers yet. Our initial stock sold out almost immediately, the 2nd shipment sold out before we even received it in, and the third shipment received today  is already half way gone! Get ‘em while they’re hot!

The Roboard RB-100 is a new breed of robotics controller: a fusion of a traditional microcontroller and a full function computer. Think of it as an OS capable microcontroller on steroids, boasting a 32bit x86 CPU running at 1000MHz and 256MB DRAM. The ability to load an operating system of your choice and have direct access to I/O, Comm ports, USB, and networking opens this controller up to a wide range of robotics based applications. Our Roboard Starter Kit comes with just about everything you need to implement this feature rich controller in your next robotics project! All you need to supply is a 1-2gb Micro-SD card to load an OS onto, 6-24v, and a robot!

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